The world's highest-grossing films of ALL TIME adjusted for inflation (Well, since cinema began. So about 130 years)
Movies seem to break the fabled billion-dollar mark all the time these days, but money is worth less than it used to be. Adjusting for inflation, here are the most successful films of all time. The results might surprise you – especially if you thought that the MCU was absolutely killing it.
(These figures are based on Guinness World Records' adjusted figures from 2014, further adjusted with the help of Statista's global inflation statistics.)
10. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Total global gross: $2,136,100,000
It couldn't quite crack China, but JJ Abrams's Star Wars revival did just manage to depose Sleeping Beauty from our top ten.
9. Jaws (1975)
Total global gross: $2,214,100,000
You won't be surprised to learn that there were diminishing returns for the sequels to Steven Spielberg's jump-scaring classic.
8. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Total global gross: $2,264,300,000
The Soviets weren't big fans of the Russian epic shot in Spain by a Brit and starring an Egyptian, but missing out on the influential USSR box office didn't hurt it in the end.
7. The Ten Commandments (1956)
Total global gross: $2,388,900,000
This time, it was Russian-born actor Yul Brynner's turn to play an Egyptian. Whatever the weird Hollywood nationality switching that was going on, it worked for Cecil B DeMille's final movie too.
6. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Total global gross: $2,523,200,000
From terrifying sharks to cuddly (and only slightly terrifying) aliens – there's no denying that Spielberg chap has range.
5. The Sound of Music (1965)
Total global gross: $2,584,400,000
Dough: all the money that the musical Julie Andrews vs Nazis epic raked in.
4. Titanic (1997)
Total global gross: $2,748,200,000
James Cameron sank $200 million into Titanic, making it the most expensive film ever made at the time – but it paid off with a record 11 Oscars (tied with Ben-Hur and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King) and a spot on our list.
3. Star Wars (aka Episode IV: A New Hope) (1977)
Total global gross: $3,085,700,000
Disney are making a bucketload with their new Star Wars films (see The Force Awakens), but they probably won't ever match the original (slightly incestuous) adventure in a galaxy far, far away.
2. Avatar (2009)
Total global gross: $3,298,700,000
The sequels may be taking a thousand years, but that doesn't detract from the absolute killing that James Cameron's Dances With Smurfs made back in 2009.
1. Gone With the Wind (1939)
Total global gross: $3,757,500,000
As God is our witness, we'll never doubt the pulling power of a four-hour-long period romance again! Click again for a bonus slide…
Bonus: Highest grossing movies (unadjusted)
Note the significant increase in superhero movies.
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